shaking

Some people think Haggai is the plural of haggis.

It's not. It's the name of a Hebrew prophet who brought God's word to his people at a troubled time in their life.

I read from his message to the Leadership Team tonight. Including this -

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and ther dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord Almighty."

'Shaking' is one of the things he does. And it's happening here and now.

Here in the local church. Here in the church across the nation. And right now. In these days.

One of the leaders had experienced an earthquake. 7.3 on the Richter scale. He was some 300 miles away, but it was scary enough.

'Disorienting' was the word he used.

There's a lot of that happening here in these days. It's easy to get disoriented. And the shaking's so strong and persistent here (both locally and nationally), that I'm running around doing my best to keep folk from falling, their heads are in such a big spin.

Yesterday I had lunch with a guy I hadn't met before. He's an Anglican priest from Bredasdorp in southern Africa.

Cape Agulhas is in his parish (or one of the seven he runs). You can't go further south than that on the whole of the African continent.

I mention that as an incidental fact because there's a sense that the whole of the work we're involved in here is heading south. As they say.

It was a 'funeral' lunch. He was right at the end of his holiday here and I asked him about what the Lord had been saying to him through this time apart.

'Faith,' he said. 'That's the word the Lord has been laying on my heart.'

Strange. The very last part of the passage with which the funeral service began read thus - "I will praise you for your faithfulness."

And the very last part of the passage with which I closed was pretty much the same - "He who calls you is faithful and he will do it."

Faith. The Lord is full of faith. Utterly, wholly faith-ful.

And because of that truth we're urged as well to be full of faith ourselves. "Be faith-ful unto death and I will give you the crown of life."

I'd rather it didn't end up in death (though it will do one day, of course!). But that's not my call.

He who calls you is faithful - which means that he will do it. Which means that I can trust him and be full of faith myself.

Even when the whole place is shaking like mad.

He knows what he's doing. And the shaking is needed to wake folk out of their slumber, to get things the way they should be.

It took an earthquake in the town of Philippi to bring a tough Roman veteran soldier into the kingdom.

"I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come."

Don't worry about the earthquakes, says the Lord. I know what I'm doing.

Which is just as well.

Getting shaken around like this these days is hardly all that comfortable. But when the Lord does the shaking the desired of all nations come.

Exciting!

Not least because Moses pitched up as well this evening! But that's another story.